Chapter 4

The alcohol was burning its way down her throat, comfortably numbing everything in its wake. Hitomi was sitting at the bar at work with Mina's big blue eyes staring her down inquisitively.

"What?" Hitomi asked her friend a bit unnerved. She was way too exhausted for Mina's spiel since she had been trying to sleep all day rather unsuccessfully. Her head had been too filled with the strange events that had occurred hours ago and the strange, violent dreams she had had. Not to mention her near-death experience where she had almost choked on a stream of blood rushing up from her own throat. She still wasn't sure if it had even really happened.

Hitomi's mood was decidedly not the best. It was a good thing that in these early evening hours there were only a few customers present and none of them had been interested in her so far. Sometimes, fate was in her favor.

"You're not looking good at all, Hitomi. What's bothering you? …and stop drinking so damn much!" Mina scolded firmly, with a hand resting on Hitomi's shoulder and squeezing it, albeit gently. Still worried, she watched Hitomi pour another glass of whiskey and empty it in one large gulp, as if to annoy her. Sometimes, her green-eyed friend was unbelievably stubborn.

Hitomi turned to look at Mina with a sour face but chose to say nothing. Instead of telling Mina that she was all grown up and could take care of herself, she decided to keep the comment to herself and simply got up. Slowly, she climbed the stairs which lead to the rooms upstairs without so much as looking back at her concerned friend.

Telling Mina about her little audience with the Red Madame wasn't an option. Of course the mistress had already known about the black-haired man who had been with her last night. She had nearly drowned in an endless stream of questions about him. Hitomi hated that she had had to lie to her. Without the Red Madame, she would have ended up alone, lost on the streets, or probably dead already; this much was for certain. But something also told her that she couldn't give away anything she knew about the man. It had caused her to refrain from admitting that she had let him escape through the secret passageway which only was to be used in extreme circumstances. Extreme circumstances most certainly excluded helping rebels get to safety.

Having rested on her cushions only for a few minutes, Hitomi was startled as her door opened quite abruptly and without the person on the other side troubling themselves with politely seeking permission. Quickly, she got up and regarded her visitor with attentive eyes. When she saw who it was, she put on a practiced, beautiful smile to acknowledge him.

"Allen! It's an honor you're visiting me tonight," she greeted him and gracefully rose from the bed. "What can I do..."

Hitomi's words were cut off when he roughly crushed his lips against hers and squeezed her body firmly against his own. Quickly and obediently, Hitomi resigned herself to his desires, though her mind was revolting. His skilled hands found the buttons which held her dress together in the back and ripped it off her carelessly. He swooped her up in his long arms as if she weighed nothing at all, crossed the few steps to the bed in fast strides and unceremoniously deposited her on it. After removing his uniform, he quickly climbed on top of her; the weight of his body pushing her deep into the pillows of the large bed.

His tongue and teeth soon were everywhere, licking and nipping their way across her body. Hitomi barely suppressed a yelp of pain when he bit down on her right nipple so hard it hurt. His hands then trailed along the curve of her hips and down to her buttocks. She closed her eyes without meaning to and suddenly found herself imagining a certain black-haired man doing these things to her instead, but in a way she could find enjoyable.

While the blond knight kissed her with brute force and placed himself at her opening, she was so captured in her fantasies that the pure excitement of it caused her cheeks to flush a deep red. However, having created these ideas couldn't save her from the present. The knight grabbed her chin roughly and forced her to join him back in the real world. Hitomi opened her eyes and locked them with his icy blue ones. "You know well enough that I want you to look at me," he panted while beginning to move into her. Hitomi blinked a few times. How could she have allowed herself to think of the stranger instead of doing what she was supposed to? This wasn't like her at all, she mused. Hitomi adjusted her hips slightly and began to move with him, ensuring that he would get the most pleasure out of it.

It wasn't that she enjoyed being what she was, but she had resigned herself to this life a long time ago. Resisting just made everything worse and if she played along, the men were satisfied and left sooner than later. There wasn't much she hadn't been made to do over the years and Allen at least didn't have any strange preferences other than wanting to hear his name coming from her lips as often as possible when he was with her.

It didn't take long for him to reach the peak; Hitomi's skills made sure of it. She felt him come inside of her hard and pulled his face close so her lips could reach it. Softly, she kissed his cheeks, nose, and temples just the way he liked it, while he was still a bit caught in the afterglow. When Allen claimed her lips once more, the image of the black-haired man popped up in her mind again and she intuitively filled the kiss with all her passion.

After a while, the knight released her and just stared into her eyes as if searching for something. Without a word, he rose quickly and dressed himself. He glanced at her while buckling his belt, seeing that she was still stretched out on the cushions, her green eyes watching his every move from under thick lashes.

His eyes found the red marks he had afflicted upon her body and grinned a bit, obviously satisfied. "Until next time, sweetheart." The knight promised her, giving her one last, firm kiss and left the room.

Hitomi then curled up on the bed and sighed heavily. Why was this happening to her? What had she done to the Gods to torture her like this? Hitomi didn't understand. The black-haired man haunted her even during work hours now. She had to behave and lay low if she didn't want to attract more attention in the near future.

Hitomi already heard the maids draw a bath in the small washroom connected to her chambers. The idea of hot, cleansing water gave her an incentive to move, so she finally got up and entered the bathroom. Slowly sinking into the bath water which was scented with rich sage oil, she felt her muscles begin to unknot.

His sweaty hands were crumpling the bed sheets mercilessly. Given the intimate situation, Van was unable to mute the little sighs and moans coming from the depths of his throat.

In his dream, he was with her. Her shapely body was pressed up against his, perfectly fitting there in every way. He felt the sensations of her soft fingertips tenderly caressing his chest and stomach. Velvety lips caressed his every muscle and his whole body was tense in expectation of her next move. All the while, his hands were traveling across her soft curves, one of them wandering up into her smooth hair.

With the other, he gently traced the swell of her breast and heard her sigh in response to his gentle caresses. Encouraged by her reaction, he flipped her over so he was above her, his fingers brushing across her body more firmly, searching their way down her stomach painfully slowly. He inhaled deeply, taking note her scent which was a mixture of sage, perfume and something heavenly only she could smell like.

It was intoxicating, driving him wilder and more fervid by the minute. Van's auburn eyes were watching her face intently while his fingers neared her center. He was proudly aware of the red flush on her cheeks and smirked. When his fingers were about to enter her and her hips eagerly pushed against his hand, he heard a soft knock somewhere in the back of his mind.

Stubbornly choosing to ignore it, he wanted nothing more than for his dream to continue but more knocks sounded through his head, much louder and insistent this time.

Van was torn from his lucid dream rather abruptly, finding that he was indeed very disappointingly alone amongst the messy sheets. The door was already swinging open, which left him little time to cover his body's very obvious state of arousal. Merle was by his side already, looking very perturbed.

"Van, is everything alright? I heard noises coming from your room and wanted to be sure that nothing's wrong." She then sat down on his bedside in search of one of his hands to hold, but Van couldn't even meet her eyes under the current circumstances. He simply turned to the side, facing away from her and towards the wall while pulling the sheets over his head.

"It's nothing, Merle. I just had a very strange dream...", he mumbled into the covers. The shame was blatantly plastered across his face when it turned a deep shade of red. What was wrong with him? Never had he dreamt about such things until now.

"Are you sure everything's fine?" Merle asked again timidly and laid a hand on his shoulder on top of the coverlet.

"Yes, I already said that!"

She winced a bit at the sound of Van's harsh voice and then again when he gruffly shook her hand off. A bit troubled, she finally left the room, but not without telling him that dinner was ready.

Van shook his head angrily and was instantly upset about his behavior. Merle had done nothing wrong and he was acting like a complete fool when she had only been concerned about him. However, in that delicate moment right after waking from such a dream, he just didn't want her around. This evil green-eyed siren ... damn her. She had infiltrated his mind and he found himself utterly helpless. He was aware of her beauty and the fact that her green eyes seemed to be capable of penetrating his very soul, but that wasn't the only reason she haunted him so much. Lust wasn't his only connection with her. When he thought about this, a rush of shivers made his body shake.

"That's enough!" He determined and wearily forced himself out of bed. A cold shower surely would help him think more clearly again.

Said green-eyed woman was at the bar again after her hot bath, feeling somewhat refreshed until somebody else entered the building. Involuntarily, Hitomi felt her body freeze when it suddenly felt much colder, as if an icy hand had wrapped itself around her mind.

Slowly, she turned her head and her eyes widened in shock. There he was; the man from her dreams. Behind him stood a mystical woman and she was definitely not entirely human. Her ears were long and pointed at the end and her impossibly long hair a silver-grey color. Her eyes were grey too, with a blue tint. The woman searched the room and finally rested her gaze on Hitomi. An uneasy feeling instantly overcame her. She had to get away. Immediately.

At this very moment, the tall man looked at her. His stare made her body and mind go numb as he strode towards her. Hitomi knew that she had missed her chance to escape. The cold glare in his rust red eyes made her tremble and she flinched when he reached for her hand. Heart beating rapidly in her chest, she could do nothing to resist as he forced her to follow him.

What did he want with her and why was he here again after all this time? Hitomi's mind screamed for her to run as fast and far as she could, but there was nothing she could do to get away from his vise-like grasp.

He stopped at her mistress's door and knocked. Patiently, he waited for her invitation. The man then strode in and loomed across from the Red Madame. Her presence was magnificent in her own way due to her fiery red, curly hair and expressive eyes, as she calmly acknowledged the visitor.

"Ah, General Folken. Long time no see! Thank you for coming so quickly. I see you've found Hitomi already." While speaking, she glanced in Hitomi's direction and her lips became a thin line after she finished.

"What's going on here?" Hitomi cried, confused, and finally managed to free her hand from that of the silver-haired stranger who had still been holding it tightly.

"You know there is nothing I hate more than lies. You of all should know it best and still, you dared to lie right into my face without even batting an eye, so these are the consequences of your behavior. General Folken has been interested in you since the very first time he came here, but I promised somebody to keep you out of trouble, to feed you and to not give you away. That's why I didn't sell you to him when he asked. However, lying to me about sheltering a rebel in my place and endangering the rest of the girls...," the Red Madame looked at her with a mixture of anger and distrust and shook her head, making her red curls dance around her face.

Hitomi's eyes went wide when she realized, what she was telling her. Her whole body began to tremble violently. "You don't mean that! Please tell me you don't! Let me stay, I beg you! I'll never ever lie to you again, I swear it!" She cried with tears in her desperate eyes. She had already made her peace with having to live this life until the end, but being sold, especially to this man, was entirely different.

A cold shiver traveled across her spine at the thought of being owned by a man. She didn't want to know what exactly he would do to her. She didn't want to find out. When men bought women, it usually meant they liked to damage them beyond what was acceptable.

"No." Her mistress simply said and averted her gaze. "You disobeyed my orders for the last time. You are in General Folken's possession now and there is nothing I can or want to change about it."

Her world shattered to pieces at precisely this moment. How foolish had she been to believe her lies wouldn't eventually work against her. Folken's red eyes rested on her, completely devoid of emotion. She only marginally noticed that he hadn't said a single word yet.

Hitomi panicked and her desperate body reacted on its own when it prompted her to run. She rushed out of the room, into the hallway, down to the bar and roughly pushed some men out of her way in the process. The girls called after her, entirely confused, and she didn't even notice Mina among them, calling Hitomi's name with panic in her voice. She had to get away as fast as she could.

As soon as she burst outside through the doors, she heard a soft melody in her head. The magical power of it hit her with an uncanny force. Her muscles became laden, not obeying anymore, and her eyelids grew heavy. She realized, with horror that she was collapsing on the cold, wet cobblestone street as her body had ceased to obey her. Her mind now too grew rigid and succumbed to the song as it was pulled into a dark state of nothing...

„Win tain a lotica,
En valturi, silota…"

A/N: I can't say it often enough: Thank you very much for your precious time and your great work in reading and editing my translation, 40four! :D

I've already said it at the beginning of the story; I'm from Germany, therefore I know that my English isn't that good, but I like it to thank every reviewer here in public, so you'll simply have to live with it (muha) ;D

Banryuu: Thank you for your kind words! I hope I can get the best things out of the movie and series and puzzle it together in my own story. :)

Miss-Miz: All praise to 40four! She has (as always) made great edits in the previous chapter and helped a lot to make it more dramatic ;)
thepinkmartini: We'll see if Allen really stays a bad guy ... I'm not sure what he really wants. He develops a life of his own sometimes and doesn't listen to me xD

40four: Thanks for giving a review every now and then, even though you don't have to :) I always appreciate it a lot! Next time, I'll wait for you with a cup of tea ;D